ECONOMY OF THE ROUND DAIRY BARN 



FUW, SPECIFICATIONS AND DETAILED COST AND CONSTRUCTION OF 

 THE NEW SIXTY-FOOT CIRCULAR DAIRY BARN AT THE UNI- 

 VERSITY. SAVING OF ROUND OVER RECTANGULAR 

 BARNS. NOTES ON SEVERAL ROUND BARNS 

 ON DAIRY FARMS.* 



BY W. J. FRASER, CHIEF IN DAIRY HUSBANDRY 



The planning, construction, and arrangement of farm buildings do not 

 usually receive the thought and study these subjects warrant. How many 

 dairymen have compared a circular, 40-cow barn with the common rec- 

 tangular building containing the same area? How many understand that 

 the circular structure is much the stronger; that the rectangular form re- 

 quires 22 percent more wall and foundation to enclose the same space; and 

 that the cost of material is from 34 to 58 percent more for the rectangular 

 building? 



In a community in which everyone is engaged in the same oc- 

 cupation, one person is likely to copy from his neighbor without 

 apparently giving a thought as to whether or not there is a bet- 

 ter way. 



In a district of Kane county, Illinois, a certain type of dairy 

 barn is used by nearly everyone, while in the next county a dis- 

 tinctly different type prevails, and the dairy barns of another ad- 

 jacent county differ from those of either of the former, simply 

 because the early settlers of this particular locality came from an 

 eastern state and started building the style of barn then common 

 in Pennsylvania. 



In a certain community in Ohio where a milk condensing fac- 

 tory is located, a large number of farmers have barns 36x60 feet, 

 with an "L" the same size. The loft of the "L" is used for the 

 storage of straw, and the cows run loose in the lower portion. 

 These barns are all built on practically the same plan and are usu- 

 ally of the same size, and this is the only community known to the 

 writer where this form of barn is used in this manner. 



This tendency to imitate emphasizes the fact that men do not 

 exercise sufficient originality. Because most barns are rectangular 

 is no reason that this is the best and most economical form. 



*Special acknowledgment is made to Mr. H. E. Crouch and Mr. R. E. Brand for their 

 assistance in working- out the detailed data which are the bases for the economic comparisons 

 of the round and rectangular barns made in this bulletin. 



1 



